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Weekend A La Carte (January 28)

My thanks goes to Desiring God for sponsoring the blog this week so they could ensure you know about John Piper’s newest book.

Today’s Kindle deals include newer and older books.

(Yesterday on the blog: The Overloaded Christian Life)

All Creation Groans

Barbaranne Kelly considers one way that creation groans. “These sweet dogs were not made in God’s image, nor do they possess souls that will live forever. They don’t stand before their Creator responsible for sin; Jesus didn’t die to redeem them. But, as the apostle Paul makes clear, they still suffer under the curse.”

Villainous Christianity in ‘The Whale,’ ‘The Wonder,’ and ‘Women Talking’

“Believers should pay attention to the ‘alternative gospels’ on offer in contemporary pop culture. If Christianity is seen more as an oppressor than a liberator, after all, something else must play the part of liberator. In each of the films discussed above, that ‘something else’ is the empowered self, through which salvation and ‘rebirth’ are achieved without appeal to the supernatural.”

When Good Doctrine Enables Abuse

Yes, people can and will twist even the best doctrine to evil uses.

God does not hear the prayers of unbelievers

“God does not grant them a hearing. That is, he turns a deaf ear to their prayer. Unbelievers have zero right of access to God. They have zero ability to petition him for anything. They have no grounds to expect God to work for them or answer their prayer.”

Most People Die on The Climb Down

John Onwuchekwa: “When it comes to both setting goals and climbing mountains, most of us misunderstand the assignment. We tend to define success by the described activity not the desired outcome. Don’t believe me? Just think about it. If someone says their goal is to climb Mount Everest, what would be the ultimate win? Making it to the top! Right? Wrong.”

The Scandal of the American Evangelical Intellectual

Justin Taylor shares a helpful insight from D.A. Carson. “I worry less about the anti-intellectualism of the less educated sections of evangelicalism than I do about the biblical and theological illiteracy, or astonishing intellectual compromise, among its leading intellectuals.”

Flashback: Help! I’ve Fallen Behind On My Bible Readings!

If you are struggling to maintain your Bible reading commitment…here are a few suggestions from some fellow fallen travelers along the way.

Self-deception is not the worst thing you can do, but it’s the means by which we do the very worst things. The sin that is most distorting your life right now is often the one you can’t see.

—Tim Keller

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    Proud of Her on Mother’s Day

    I can’t even tell you how brave she has been, how resilient, and how determined. The Lord alone knows all the ways she has had to exercise her faith and submit her will to his. But she has. She has, and it has been a blessing and an honor to behold. We come again to…

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    A La Carte (May 9)

    A La Carte: The one life dream that makes a girl blush / Will I be single forever? / Should I go to seminary? / The clearest indication of our evil’s depth / Treasures in heaven / and more.

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    A La Carte (May 8)

    A La Carte: She forgot our names / “Gender-affirming care” for children / The woman who saved her church / The Trojan horse of a bad dictionary / Piper’s myths about eternal rewards / Tell your kids stories / and more.

  • Test Everything

    Christian, Do You Test Everything?

    A little while ago, the Bank of Canada became concerned about the amount of counterfeit currency circulating within the country. They began to educate the population with a short and simple mantra: “Touch, tilt, look at, look through.” These are four simple tests that can quickly show a bill to be genuine or counterfeit.

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    A La Carte (May 7)

    A La Carte: The babies money can buy / Deconstruction is sooo 2022 / Tips for leading a Bible study / Arguments against physician-assisted suicide / Your pastor isn’t your therapist / Book and Kindle sales / and more.